So the question arises, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?

Today, we’ll use science and data to determine which Houston ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Houston area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the suburbs to live up to Houston proper, although West University Place certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Houston are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado…

We examined the 27 biggest suburbs of Houston to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Texas lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Houston in terms of quality of life.

Editor’s Note: If you see a slight difference between the worst in state rankings and this suburb ranking, it’s because of the methodology. We needed a way to include more places, so we eliminated crime and commute times as criteria for this analysis.

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Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Houston for 2018

To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things.

1. Humble

Population: 15,569Unemployment Rate: 10.0%Median Home Price: $111,200Median Income: $37,257
We’ll get the ball rolling with Humble, the absolute worst place to live around Houston according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Humble beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 1st worst in the Houston area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 6th worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Humble.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area, there aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

2. Galena Park

This city is 9.4 miles to Houston. Income levels here are the 4th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $44,467 a year, which doesn’t go a long ways even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

3. Arcola

Population: 2,509 Unemployment Rate: 5.6%Median Home Price: $129,300Median Income: $37,813
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Houston suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Arcola on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school drop out rate is poor compared to other Houston suburbs.

But at least there are nice parks to bring the kids during the day.

4. South Houston

Population: 17,474Unemployment Rate: 8.0%Median Home Price: $83,400Median Income: $42,016
If you live in South Houston, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 3rd lowest Houston suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 9th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Houston. Remember, we looked at 27 cities for this study.

5. Baytown

Population: 75,310Unemployment Rate: 9.8%Median Home Price: $96,100Median Income: $49,930
Baytown has the distinction of being a Houston suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Baytown has the 3rd lowest home values in the metro Houston area, where the median price is $96,100. To put that into perspective, in West University Place, the median income is $220,868, which is the best in the area.

Baytown has an unemployment rate of 9.8% which ranks 2nd worst.

6. Alvin

Population: 25,500Unemployment Rate: 6.9%Median Home Price: $113,800Median Income: $45,949
Alvin has 25,500 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

8. Pasadena

Population: 153,286Unemployment Rate: 9.7%Median Home Price: $104,500Median Income: $48,607
Pasadena is a city about 16.5 miles from Houston, but Houston probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard pressed to find a worse place to live. Pasadena has the 5th most uninsured people, 8th worst incomes, and has the 3rd highest unemployment rate (9.7%) in the entire Houston metro area.

Homes only cost $104,500 for a reason. That’s cheap for Houston standards.

9. Richmond

Population: 11,939Unemployment Rate: 4.3%Median Home Price: $99,100Median Income: $48,111
If you absolutely have to live near Houston, then Richmond might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Houston suburb.

I believe the author, Sam Sparkes is 1) Lazy – Because he obviously didn’t research the cities he listed as “the worst”. For instance, The Woodlands and Sugar Land, the two most prosperous cities around Houston with class “A” concert venues, shopping, museums, park n ride facilities, award winning schools, an abundance of public parks and playgrounds, low crime rate, low property taxes and complete hike and bike trail systems. And 2) Idiotic – For thinking that anyone will take his research and writing seriously after publishing this garbage.

This report is based on:
•No jobs? In Tomball? Really?
•Low incomes? Really?
•Low population density (No things to do)? You haven’t been to Tomball lately, huh?
•Low home values? Because of the growth to the northwest and Exxon moving into the Woodlands, Tomball is among the communities most often chosen to live because of its relatively low cost of living . . . and did we mention the quality of the schools and numbers of churches?
•High cost of living? Really? Really? Compared to what?

Did you even realize that the photo used to represent the city shows a building that has been gone for almost five years? As your disclaimer reads . . . “Snarkiness incorporated for entertainment purposes only.” This certainly is for entertainment, because the facts are limited.”

The logic and research used here is as flawed as the link to “Best places to live in Houston” which lists no places near Houston. Just another troll website looking for clicks. I should expect better from the Houston Chronicle than to mention this, but I don’t.

Just goes to show you how people that think they are smart and come up with the logic to determine the worst places to live in Houston are pretty stupid. Katy is one of the best places to live in Houston and if you actually lived in Houston, you would know that. You need to include all of Katy in your analysis, meaning Katy Independent School District which include unincorporated Katy. You quoted a population of 14,363 in Katy, city limits! Katy ISD population was 309,556 in 2015. You quoted a median income of $69,279 but was actually $89,485 in 2015. You didn’t mention anything in your analysis about schools. Maybe you should educate yourself. Katy has one of the best school districts, in Texas! Word of advice.

Hello everybody . after reading the article and the commenets I am totally confuced by now . I am moving to Texas in the next few months . I am 45 and have 5 kids between 19 and 6 years old . Iam not rich and expect my live to be a hard one especially first two yeras . I am trying to figure out where is best for me and my family to settle so that we can make ends meet up . I care alot a bout the saftey of my family and their education . in the same time i need to be where i can find a descent job so that we survive . in addition to that we want to be in a place where we can enjoy the outdoor activties and nature . dot wanna be i a boring place like where i ive noe in europe . I apprciate any Help . I am mving to USA because of the treats I received for my privious work withe the US army in the middle east . Thank you

Hey The Confused,
The majority of people in the comments don’t really understand the data. This list takes into account only the 25 places around Houston, not the entirety of the state or country. Therefore, a place can rank low on this list (for places around Houston), yet still be a very good place to live (relative to the entire state of Texas or country).